Best of the fest

5 October 2003 — 10:00am

Free Opening night

Where: Federation SquareWhen: Thursday October 9 The theme to this year’s festival is “The Body”, and to make the point, opening night kicks off at 6pm with the first session of Dancing In The Streets, a public program in which all comers are led in dance lessons in a given style (say, cha-cha), then shown a film in which said dance style plays a major role, before capping off the evening with dancing to a live band. On opening night, Drew Anthony will teach the steps to the classic Gene Kelly routine from Singin’ In The Rain (please BYO raincoat and umbrella), which will be followed by the outdoor screening of the movie and music until midnight from The Brian Stacey Big Band.Why you should join in: When are you next going to have the chance to be the star of your very own MGM musical? - Fiona Scott-Norman

Opera Akhnaten Where: Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse, 111 Sturt Street, Southbank When: Wednesday October 15 to Saturday October 18 Philip Glass’ Einstein on the Beach, the big production (four and a half hours without a break) in 1992, is remembered as either one of the most fascinating or one of the most boring shows in the festival’s history. This year, another Glass opera is being presented, under the direction of talented Australian choreographer Leigh Warren. Akhnaten, a co-production by Warren’s dance company and the State Opera of South Australia, is set in ancient Egypt and offers plenty of opportunities for ritualistic effects. It is half the length of Einstein and, though part of the same trilogy, has better music. Why you should see it: Opera productions, local and imported, have a fairly good success rate at Melbourne Festivals. - Neil Jillett

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Visual arts OrificeWhere: Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), 111 Sturt Street, Southbank When: Thursday October 9 to Sunday November 30 This exploration of the human body “in all its ecstatic places, from the sensual to the subversive, from the playful to the perverse” is sure to have more conservative Melburnians aghast. Featuring an array of artists including Roderick Buchanan, Carolyn Eskdale, Matthys Gerber, Douglas Gordon, Brent Harris, Fiona Macdonald and Susan Norrie, Orifice “takes us into the body through different entries, physical, metaphoric, suggestive and salacious,” curator Juliana Engberg writes in the catalogue for the show. Why you should see it: It’s a solid body of work that’s bound to have chins wagging. - Ashley Crawford

Free/Kids Dancing in the StreetWhere: Federation Square When: Thursday October 9 to Saturday October 25 If you’ve ever longed to bust some dance moves but have always been too wishy washy to commit to classes, the Dancing in the Street program is going to rock your world. There are free professional dance classes every night of the week at 6pm, so come straight from work and learn to go-go, tango, cheerlead, lindy-hop, tap, line-dance, whatever. There’s a different style each night, followed by a classic film featuring that type of dancing. When that’s over, head inside the BMW Edge for a live band and a chance to put your newly acquired knowledge to work. Other dance/film/band combinations include hip-hop classes followed by Beat Street and TZU; twist and limbo class followed by Twist and Robert Serverini And The Twisters; and line dancing followed by You Can’t Stop The Murders and The Hogsbelly Morton Blues Review. On weekends, kids can join the fun in special sessions in traditional dance styles such as Greek, Indian and indigenous. Why you should join in: You can learn to go-go like Ann Margaret in Viva Las Vegas. - Fiona Scott-Norman

Theatre JimmyWhere: Fairfax Studio, Victorian Arts Centre When: Tuesday October 21 to Saturday October 25 French-Canadian actress Marie Brassard’s solo performance originated at the 2001 Montreal Festival de Theatre des Ameriques and has since toured Europe and America to acclaim. “Jimmy” is both man and woman, and neither. Jimmy’s origins were in the dream of an American general, about to depart for the Korean War. The general’s dream is stopped at a moment of intense desire, and with it his heart. Jimmy’s existence is suspended for 50 years, until he is dreamed about again by a young actress from Montreal … Brassard’s piece plays with ideas of ambiguity and the slipperiness of identities. It offers the possibility that the creatures of our dreams have ongoing and multiple existences. She creates and inhabits a number of characters and brings into question the strict demarcation between the real and the fanciful. Why you should see it: invites audiences to participate in their own suspension of reality. What could be more tempting? - Bill Perrett

Dance Cursive II Where: State Theatre, Victorian Arts Centre When: Thursday October 9 to Saturday October 11 It is almost traditional for Melbourne Festival directors to blunder in choosing the main item on the dance program and the big opening event in the State Theatre (which are often the same thing). Memorably horrible mistakes include performances by an ill-mannered Japanese butoh company (1991) and a troupe of smug New York trampolinists (1998). Last year Robyn Archer made the ill-judged but well-intentioned choice of a tedious corroboree. This year, more cautiously and probably more wisely, she is giving Cloud Gate the honour of launching the festival. This much-lauded Taiwanese company blends Western aesthetic and physical elements with a more spiritual Eastern approach and tai-chi moves to produce exquisitely graceful choreography. Cursive II, which recently had its premiere in Taipei, is an exploration through movement of the patterns of Chinese calligraphy. The accompanying music, by American John Cage, may be less attractive than the dancing. Why you should see it: Probably no other performers at this year’s festival can match the reputation Cloud Gate has earned around the world. - Neil Jillett

Dance The Age of Unbeauty Where: Playhouse, Victorian Arts Centre When: Tuesday October 14 to Thursday October 16 Sometimes noted more for its off-stage dramas than its on-stage performances, the Adelaide-based Australian Dance Theatre (founded in 1965) still has a fine record of artistic achievement, and is seen too rarely in Melbourne these days. Working with other companies, its newish boss, Garry Stewart, choreographed a dreadful piece for the 1995 festival, but his Plastic Space was a highlight of the 1999 festival. So here’s hoping this year’s ADT offering, The Age of Unbeauty, again demonstrates his ability to inspire dancers into adventurous, wildly energetic yet meticulously disciplined performance. This work, which was staged on the fringe at last year’s Adelaide Festival, was prompted by the ADT’s visit to New York three weeks after September 11, 2001. It is loaded with violent images of urban inhumanity and takes the audience on what Stewart calls “a bit of a rough journey” before closing with “a wish for unity and peace”. Why you should see it: This could be that rare thing: dance that has something to say, without being tiresome and pretentious. - Neil Jillett

Circus/Kids Acrobat Where: Forum Theatre, City When: Thursday October to Saturday October 25 Five daring acrobats (one woman, four bearded men) combine with an exuberant electronic musician in this show, which is apparently designed for thrill-seekers, the hard of hearing, and admirers of physical skill. It is billed as having a style that combines scruffiness, grace and polished professionalism. Touring the world from their base in Albury-Wodonga (where they live as a collective), the acrobat team has been acclaimed as the “antithesis of conventional circus”. Their costumes - little more than baggy underwear and masking tape - lack the traditional circus glitz, but they use the trapeze and other traditional circus apparatus. Their performance, which rates the warning “nudity, loud music and adult concepts” (kids are likely to enjoy it, all the same) in the festival program, relies on the traditional circus skills of courage, strength and precision timing. They are also dedicated to good health. In their dangerous line of work, they say, it’s more important to keep fit than to make money. Why you should see it: Support local talent and have fun at the same time. - Neil Jillett

Free Behind The Scenes One of the Melbourne Festival’s greatest initiatives has been the establishment of the Behind the Scenes series, in which professional artists are given the opportunity to take off in a fresh, tangential direction. This is a rare chance to see works in progress, watch performers wade navel deep in their creative juices, and then provide feedback. There are three diverse and brilliant projects on show for your appraisal this festival. Renowned comic Rachel Berger is pushing boundaries by presenting Clenched Buttocks, a theatrical monologue she has developed with a director and dramaturg (45 Flinders Lane, City; Wednesday October 8 to Friday October 10 at 8pm, Saturday October 11 and Sunday October 12 at 5pm). Chamber Made Opera and Richard Frankland are presenting Walkabout, an exploration of the iconic 1970s film and the indigenous issues it raises, using a fusion of music, performance, film and theatre (Chunky Move Studios, 111 Sturt Street, Southbank; Saturday October 11 at 3.30pm, Sunday October 12 at 4pm). Why you should see it: To be god for a couple of hours, and witness the process of creation. - Fiona Scott-Norman

Theatre Johan Padan and the Discovery of AmericaWhere: The Arts Centre, Fairfax Studio When: Thursday October 9 to Sunday October 19 (performed in Italian on Sunday October 12) Dario Fo, with his Nobel Prize and immense worldwide reputation as a playwright, ought to have become sober and venerable. Fortunately, Johan Padan again proves that he has not. This is the story of the hairy adventures of a fugitive from the Inquisition, a stowaway on Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the New World. It re-imagines history in true Fo style; he researched the play by reading the diaries of various explorers, and improvised stories from their accounts of cultural collision. In this version of the conquest of the Americas, the Indians and the larrikin hero win the day, and on the way there are cracks at the Church, some mayhem, many storms and a deal of vulgar sexuality (at two hours plus it will need all of that). Actor Mario Pirovano is a long-time member of the Fo-Rame company, and he has the pedigree to offer the anarchically energetic performance required. Why you should see it: To witness a consummate clown in action. - Bill Perrett

Visual arts Bleeding Napoleon: The Art of Johann Dieter Wassmann (1841-98) Where: Old Melbourne Observatory Building, Botanic Gardens, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra When: Sunday October 12 to Saturday October 25 The intense installation of work by the Leipzig artist (and sewerage engineer) Johann Dieter Wassmann is a must-see in this year’s visual arts program. Wassmann, who died a gruesome death in 1898 from gangrene after being run over by a tram, created extraordinary structures of found materials encased in European wood. The results are surreal and poetic, fascinating juxtapositions of curios and assemblages. Wassmann’s work has been sent to Melbourne by The Wassmann Foundation, based in Washington DC. The title of the selection, Bleeding Napoleon, refers to a comment made by Wassmann’s son-in-law in excitation over Napoleon’s defeat in the Battle of Leipzig. What makes this exhibition most intriguing, however, is the fact that all of the preceding is complete fabrication. The Wassmann Foundation is, in fact, the creation of artist Jeff Wassmann and writer/curator Kirsten Rann. The duo created the foundation around Wassmann’s work, extending it into a whirlwind ride through history, science, medicine, language and deception. Wassmann’s sculptural assemblages are accompanied by a meticulously created fabrication of Johann Dieter Wassmann’s life, complete with an extensive catalogue critiquing the fictitious character’s work. Why you should see it: Wickedly brilliant, Bleeding Napoleon should inspire wide debate about the way art is presented to the public. - Ashley Crawford

Free The Blue Thong ClubWhere: Black Box, Victorian Arts Centre When: Thursday October 9 to Saturday October 25 (closed Mondays) Keep the festival glow going after the show at this late-night venue. Created and curated by avant-garde performance artists Neil Thomas and Katy Bowman, The Blue Thong is partly a gallery installation in the form of a shoe factory, featuring (naturally) the world’s largest and second-largest collection of thongs, and partly an eccentric cabaret venue. Every aspect of the club is a performance, from waiters to bar staff, and each night features eclectic entertainment from the cream of Australia’s performing arts community. There will be conceptual dance, gypsy accordion, satire and circus, robots and hair transplants. Intended as a relaxing, interest-piquing, post-show watering hole for artists and the festival-going public, The Blue Thong Club serves simple nourishing food as well as liquor, and has a soccer table and outdoor terrace. Why you should see it: Meet the performers without having to hang around stage door like a wally. - Fiona Scott Norman

Music Stravinsky Dances Where: Concert Hall, Victorian Arts Centre When: Saturday October 18 Igor Stravinsky, with Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, gave the world two of the 20th century’s greatest ballet scores, The Rite of Spring and The Firebird, which represented as bold a departure for music as for dance. This performance presents The Firebird choreographed for solo dancer (Delia Silvan) by Lucy Guerin. Two other ballet scores complete the program: Pulcinella and Jeu de Cartes (Game of Cards). The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performs under its chief conductor, Markus Stenz, with soloists Sally-Anne Russell, Stephen Bennett and Paul McMahon. Why you should see it: The power, beauty and ingeniousness of Stravinsky’s scores remain undimmed by time and convention. In any festival celebrating dance, his music is an essential ingredient. - Michael Shmith

Free Spiegeltent Where: Forecourt, Victorian Arts Centre When: Thursday October 9 to Sunday November 2 (In Conversation With Robyn Archer Friday October 10 to Saturday October 25) Like a Tardis made of stained glass, wood and flashing lights, the famous Spiegeltent is materialising on the Arts Centre forecourt for the third year running. Without question one of the most beautiful designated cabaret venues in the world, this much-loved 1920s baroque Belgian construction travels the festivals of the world providing the perfect performance and club environment. At lunchtime, festival director Robyn Archer conducts her popular “conversations” interviews with artists appearing at the festival. In the afternoons there is jazz, and in the evenings two cabaret shows (entry price varies) are followed by Club Spiegel’s La Clique festival club (free entry after 11pm) until 3am. This year the show line-up is exclusively Australian, and includes performances from Vika and Linda Bull, Paul Capsis, Deborah Conway, Libby Gorr, GUD (Paul McDermott’s cabaret trio), Architecture In Helsinki, Eric Bogle, Pastel Vespa, Mark Trevorrow, Jane Clifton, and Nichaud Fitzgibbon. Why you should drop in: For the ambience. To look at yourself in mirrors that once reflected back Marlene Deitrich - Fiona Scott-Norman

Music Mysterious Alchemy - Chopin and Dance Where: Baptist Church, 174 Collins Street When: Friday October 10 What other composer was as unstintingly devoted to the piano as Frederic Chopin? The dance elements he took and transformed into incomparable examples of piano art were the waltz, mazurka and polonaise. The Australian pianist Anna Goldsworthy takes this as her starting point in a program on Chopin’s musicianship and style. It promises to combine scholarship and musicianship as well as providing some of Chopin’s most memorable and ingenious scorings. Why you should see it: Goldsworthy is a passionate advocate and fine technician of Romantic piano music. Chopin wasn’t a bad composer, either. - Michael Shmith

Music Into the Fire: Australian Art Orchestra Where: Concert Hall, Victorian Arts Centre When: Monday October 13 Festivals are as much about cross-cultures as they are about specifics, and this jazz-influenced adaptation of Indian music is a fine example. Paul Grabowsky, the closest we have to a musical nomad, combines his Australian Art Orchestra with leading Indian musicians to survey the many styles of music, percussion and dance to come from the sub-continent. Why you should see it: The ceaseless invention of Grabowsky and the eternal beauties of Indian music are made for each other. - Michael Shmith

Visual arts Bahaus photographyWhere: RMIT Gallery, 344 Swanston Street, Melbourne When: Until Saturday November 1 Photography made radical shifts via the work of the Bauhaus movement in Germany between 1919 and 1933. This exhibition features a selection of 124 photographs by more than 40 photographers of the Bauhaus School, which was founded by the architect Walter Gropius between the World Wars and soon rose to become the leading avant-garde art-educational institution in Germany. Why you should see it: It’s sure to be a treat for anyone interested in photography and the social evolution of the industrial world. - Ashley Crawford

Dance I Am Blood Where: State Theatre, Victorian Arts Centre When: Friday October 17 to Monday October 20 Most festivals have a shock-horror event to stir up a rumpus that clergy and politicians are sometimes silly enough to join. It’s a fact of theatrical life that old tricks like nudity and obscene monologues (by, for example, Frankfurt Ballet at the 2001 festival) can win more applause for “cutting-edge innovation” than good choreography and dancing. This year’s controversy-chaser seems to be I am Blood - an appropriate name for a contribution to a festival whose theme is The Body - created by Jan Fabre for his Antwerp company. Whether it will also be genuinely audacious theatre is anybody’s guess. Some festival shows (last year’s Total Marsala Slammer, for example) are wan duds that contradict their lairy publicity. But, with ingredients that include sex, violence, cannibalism, medieval Christian mysticism and homage to the art of Brueghel and Bosch, I Am Blood seems unlikely to be tame fare. Why you should see it: Could your reputation survive your failure to see, and be seen at, what is sure to be the festival’s most talked-about show? - Neil Jillett

Theatre The Lost BreathWhere: Athenaeum Theatre, 188 Collins Street When: Tuesday October 14 to Sunday October 19 How - or even whether - audiences enjoy Barrie Kosky’s work depends on their interpretation of the word "brave" when applied to theatre. Currently Kosky is co-artistic director of the Vienna Schauspielhaus, whence comes this production. It is based on three of Franz Kafka’s short stories (including the well-known Metamorphosis) uses the music of Schumann and the figure of Harry Houdini, and is performed in English, German, Hebrew and Yiddish. Those familiar with Kosky’s work will recognise this concept of familiar high art put into a new context and defamiliarised. To some it represents a kind of vandalism; to others, and certainly to Kosky’s European audiences, it is refreshing, reinvigorating, a challenge to find other and richer meanings. This performance has the added attraction of Kosky on piano, and will undoubtedly take audiences out of their comfort zones. Why you should see it: Worth a risk for Melbourne theatregoers used to the safe and unadventurous. - Bill Perrett

Theatre The Whirling DervishesWhere: Concert Hall, Victorian Arts Centre When: Sunday October 19 and Tuesday October 21 At a time when the West is fascinated by, or fearful of, most things Islamic, this Turkish troupe of nine dancers should take some beating as the festival’s most exotic show. But do we view their 90-minute, 727-year-old ritual, which is accompanied by drumming and singing, as entertainment or, as various non-Muslims have described it, a form of worship, a surrender to the divine or an act of contemplation? Its six parts include a eulogy to the Prophet, the salutation of soul to soul and a prayer for the repose of souls. The dervish’s headdress represents his ego’s tombstone, his black cloak (dropped for the whirling dance, or sema) his grave, and his white skirt (which flares out during the sema) his ego’s shroud. There seems to be some argument about whether the dancers’ aim is to achieve a hyperconscious state or to become ecstatic.Why you should see it: It’s hard to imagine that it won’t at least be mesmerising.- Neil Jillett